Crime Thriller Book Log: Crouch, Coulter, Robb & DeMille
Oh look, books. Published this week. Fancy that. Let’s take a closer look at some of them.
Wayward is the second in the Wayward Pines series by Black Crouch. It sounds very Twin Peaks, which is never a bad thing, or maybe it’s a bit like The Prisoner, which is even better, or perhaps it’s like Lost, or like Eureka, which is—oh, never mind. Maybe it’s like none of those things. However, the blurb undoubtedly makes it sound interesting:
Welcome to Wayward Pines, population 461. Nestled amidst picture-perfect mountains, the idyllic town is a modern-day Eden…except for the electrified fence and razor wire, snipers scoping everything 24/7, and the relentless surveillance tracking each word and gesture.
None of the residents know how they got here. They are told where to work, how to live, and who to marry. Some believe they are dead. Others think they’re trapped in an unfathomable experiment. Everyone secretly dreams of leaving, but those who dare face a terrifying surprise.
Ethan Burke has seen the world beyond. He’s sheriff, and one of the few who knows the truth—Wayward Pines isn’t just a town. And what lies on the other side of the fence is a nightmare beyond anyone’s imagining.
Now is probably the time to step onboard the Pines series – I think I’ve got the first one on my Kindle somewhere. A TV adaptation has gone into production, to be screened next year. It stars the under-rated Matt Dillon; Carla Gugino, whom we love from loads of stuff; Melissa Leo, ah, how I miss Homicide: Life On The Street; and Toby Jones, who makes everything he’s in 22.7% more interesting.
The series is being directed by M. Night Shyamalan, who has a lot to prove, but as we know these TV adaptations can go either way. Yeah, I’m looking at you, Under The Dome.
Anyway, Wayward is now out on Kindle and in paperback. It’s the second book in a series, remember, so you may want to edge back a bit, back a bit, no, back a bit. Just there is fine.
And what else is out? Well, there’s The Quest, by Nelson DeMille. That’s a proper novelist’s name, that is. Written by. Nelson. DeMille.
Anyway, DeMille is famous for his series featuring recurring characters such as Joe Ryker, John Sutter, Paul Brenner and John Corey, but his new book The Quest is a stand-al… what’s that you say? It’s not a new book? Oh, I see. DeMille first wrote it in 1975, and has now totally rewritten it. Interesting.
We’re ready for your blurb, Mr. DeMille:
Mankind’s greatest mystery lies in wait…
Civil war rages in Ethiopia. A man waits to die in a parched prison cell; he has seen daylight for four decades. But then a bomb hit hits the compound, and the prisoner and his secret are free.
Two reporters, a beautiful photographer and a mercenary soldier save this wounded man, who tells them something too incredible to believe: the location of the Holy Grail. Thus begins an impossible quest that will pit them against murderous tribes, deadly assassins, fanatical monks, and ultimately, themselves.
The Quest is a breakneck search for an ancient legend amid a dangerous jungle war - and no one’s coming out unscathed.
Put down the car keys—The Quest isn’t out till tomorrow on either e-reader or in hardback.
Once upon a time, Catherine Coulter was a reader of romance novels and read one that was so terrible that she threw it across the room. Her husband challenged her to do better and – well, you know the rest. These days, she’s writing at her desk at 6-30am every morning. And crikey, how she writes. Coulter publishes one historical romance and one suspense novel each year.
Her latest series character is written with J.T. Ellison and features Chief Inspector Nicholas Drummond from The Yard teaming up with an FBI Special Agent to hunt for a missing diamond. I suspect that Drummond will probably be sticking around in the States for some time to come, charming Americans with his politeness and quirky ways.
The Final Cut is out in hardback now.
J.D. Robb is a pseudonym used by Nora Roberts for her In Death series of futuristic police procedurals, set in a future New York City.
Turns out that Robb is as prolific as Roberts, and so far she’s published 37 books in the series. Taking into account all her pseudonyms, Roberts/Robb has published over 200 novels – and there are about 400 million in print.
Here’s the blurb:
He looked at his hands, covered with her blood, at the spreading pool of red on the floor, the wild spatters of it on the walls. An artist, he mused. Maybe he should be an artist.
Murder doesn’t stop for Thanksgiving.
As the household of NYPSD Lieutenant Eve Dallas and her billionaire husband Roarke prepares for an invasion of family and friends, an ungrateful son decides to stop the nagging from his parents - by ending their lives.
Soon Jerald Reinhold is working his way through anyone who has ever thwarted him in his path to an easy life. Eve is increasingly frustrated in her efforts to cover all the potential victims as Jerald stays a terrifying step ahead.
As the festivities begin, Eve is desperate to identify which victim on Jerald’s long list will be the next, so she can stop the killing spree…
Thankless In Death is available in hardback – tick! Thankless In Death Is Available on your e-reader – tick!
It’s interesting that DeMille returned to The Quest after all these years. Stephen King did the same with the aforementioned Under The Dome, a book he originally started back in the 70s and kept returning to without really find a way to make it work.
What about you guys? Is there a manuscript in your bottom drawer, something that has continued to transmit a weak pulse into your head, that you’ve returned to after years, perhaps decades, away from it?
